IBS, IBD, Gluten or Glyphosate: Which is it?

If you’ve been told you have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s colitis or ulcerative colitis–or ‘just’ irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you may have wondered if gluten was the culprit. Perhaps you’ve been tested for Celiac disease–which is the hallmark sign of gluten allergy—but the results came back negative. What if there’s another trigger of your bowel pain?

Today’s conventionally grown wheat crop in the U.S.A. and Canada is sprayed with glyphosate. Most easily identified by, but not isolated to the brand name Roundup, glyphosate is a powerful herbicide that kills everything green—except the plants that are genetically modified in a lab to be immune to it. A lot of attention has been given to the topic of genetically altered foods, and rightly so—but could glyphosate be the scariest culprit here? First, I should qualify that to date, the wheat for sale has not been genetically manipulated like corn, soybeans, canola and other crops have. However, farmers have discovered that if they spray their crop with glyphosate at harvest time that it dries standing up, thereby reducing harvest work. Higher levels of this chemical may actually be found and measured in the urine of people who consume not just wheat, but any conventionally grown (i.e., non-organic) grains and soybeans. The lab Great Plains Laboratory, as well as the non-for-profit Institute for Responsible Technology both state that there is sufficient data that indicate that glyphosate-containing herbicides are toxic to humans and are associated with gastrointestinal disorders we see so much of today.

Do you react?

Several of my non-Celiac nutrition clients who say they are gluten-intolerant have told me that somehow, they were able to eat glutenous pasta and breads while overseas with no ill effects. For a while, I attributed this to the fact they were on vacation, and therefore were experiencing a lot less stress in their lives (rest increases tolerance for dietary stressors.) However, a couple of them were actually on business trips to Europe, where the wheat (if not imported from Canada or the U.S.) is NOT treated with benzoyl peroxide nor glyphosate. How interesting!

Disclaimer: If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease you must never consume wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut or triticale in any form or amount.